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Friday, April 2, 2010

Green Parent Recipes

It's always nice to add a few more recipes to your repertoire. I am always trying to change and experiment with our food as it's so important for little ones to get used to trying different tastes and textures. (This is definitely information for another post.)

Here are two recipes we discussed at our Green Parent Cafe Meetup. (Sorry for the Americanized recipes. I've yet to make the switch!)

Squash and quinoa pilaf

Ingredients for 2 cups

- quinoa, 1/2 cup

- extra virgin olive oil, 2 Tbsp

- veggie stock or water, 1 1/2 cups

- courgettes, 2 coarsly shredded

- ground cumin, 1/2 tsp

How ?

In a saucepan, toss quinoa in 1Tbsp of oil to coat. Add stock and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low, cover, and slimmer for 20 minutes. Quinoa will be transclucent.

While quinoa is cooking, in a small frying pan over medium-high heat, heat remaining 1 Tbsp olive oil. Add squash and cumin and sauté until tender, 3-5 minutes.

Remove quinoa from heat. Add squash to quinoa and mix thoroughly before serving

To store

Refrigerate cooled squash and quinoa pilaf in an airtight container for up to 3 days, or fill ice-cube trays or larger containers to freeze for up to 3 months.

(This is one of Henry's all-time favorite recipes. It's so darn easy and quick too. I add other veggies sometimes and cheese on occasion, but I never leave out the cumin. I didn't have any on hand one time, and he noticed. And let me know about it. Oops.)

Root veggie medley

Ingredients for 2 cups

- sweet potato, 1

- parsnips, 2

- carrots, 2

- extra-virgin olive oil, 2 Tbsp

- fresh rosemary, 2 tsp minced (or dried if necessary)

- pinch of salt and pepper depending on age of child

How ?

Preheat oven to 400°F. Peel sweet potato, parsnips and carrots. Using a mandoline or chef's knife, carefully slice vegetables into rounds 1/2 inch thick. Cut sweet potato rounds into quarters or as needed to roughly match the size of the parsnips and carrots.

Put vegetables in a ceramic or glass baking dish. Drizzle with oil, sprinkle with rosemary, salt and pepper, and toss to coat. Roast until vegetables are tender, 15-20 minutes.

Depending on your baby's age and chewing ability, mash part of the cooked vegetable medley and puree part in a food processor and then combine for a variety of textures. Or, simply cut vegetable pieces smaller to accommodate little mouths.

To store

Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

(Okay, I don't slice them in 1/2 inch thick anymore as we started this recipe from a very young age. I now just roughly chop them - and he loves it. Easy and quick.)

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We are dedicated to encouraging healthy and green families, but in a manner that works for each of us individually. Too many times, we are overwhelmed by taking that first step -- Green Families UK is here to encourage families to begin to realize the potential benefits of small actions on the environment. Visit our site at www.greenfamilies.co.uk